A THREE-year-old girl let herself out of a Calcot nursery school and wandered nearly a quarter of a mile to a busy main road after a gate was left unlocked.

A THREE-year-old girl let herself out of a Calcot nursery school and wandered nearly a quarter of a mile to a busy main road after a gate was left unlocked.

The little girl, who has a disability which makes it difficult for her to walk long distances, is thought to have left from the back of the nursery unit at Calcot Infant School during playtime on Wednesday.

It appears she then walked through the grounds of Calcot Junior School, along Curtis Road and down Royal Avenue to the shopping parade at the bottom of the hill, where she was collected from the C&G newsagents shop.

Her mother, who lives in Southcote and has asked not to be named, said she left her daughter at school at 12.30pm and knew nothing of the incident until she went to pick her up at 3pm.

She said: "When I got into the classroom the teacher told me what had happened.

"She was crying and said she was devastated by what had happened.

"I couldn't take it in at the time."

The mum, 31, spoke to headteacher Fay Bull that

afternoon and again the following day. She said: "I have talked to lots of people, including the people in C&G newsagents where she was apparently found and I understand a man found her, possibly walking down near the A4, and he took her to the newsagents.

"A female teacher arrived at that moment, grabbed her, put her in her car and drove off without explaining who she was.

"That is what I have been able to find out for myself. The account that the school gave me didn't mention that she had been found by a man and kept emphasising that she was only gone a few minutes.

"But my daughter finds it difficult to walk and she is only little so it must have taken her quite a time for her to walk that far."

Mrs Bull has written a letter to parents asking them to close the gate properly and inviting them to contact her if they have any concerns about the incident.

The letter says: "Fortunately, the child was noticed to be missing within minutes and thanks to the staff, the child was located in a short time and no lasting harm or distress was caused.

"We presume they lifted the top latch but this must have meant that the bolt was not across. The nursery staff checked the gates once the

parents left the site. We can only

surmise that an adult delivering a late child had not secured the gate."

The mum said: "The school seems to be putting the blame on us.

"I think that the teachers should check the gate is shut and bolted when the children are sent out into the playground.

"I don't feel I have been told everything about this incident.

"I think there should be a public meeting with parents so we can put our questions to the head and the staff."

A spokeswoman for West Berkshire police confirmed that they received a 999 call at 2.33pm saying a girl had been missing for 15 minutes and that a second call to police said she had been found at 2.38pm.